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EDITED BY 

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• # 

Or Habvabd DmvBBaiTT. 


3SrO. 22. 

JULY, 1895. 

DOCUMENTS ILLUSTRATING 
STATE LAND CLAIMS AND CESSIONS, 
1776-1802. 


NEW YORK 

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COLONIAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL. 


No. 22.—July, 1895. 


DOCUMENTS ILLUSTRATING 

STATE LAND CLAIMS AND CESSIONS, 

1776-1802. 


In No. 16 of the Leaflets nxt printed the charters and grants upon which 
rest the original claims of the various Continental Colonies which later 
constituted the Union. Most of those grants had been annulled, or the 
proprietary rights acquired by the Crown. When the Revolution was im¬ 
pending, the boundaries between colonies had been for the most part 
adjusted; and by the Proclamation of 1 ^ 6 ^ [American History Leaflet 
No. 5, p. 14) no governors were to “grant warrants of survey or pass 
patents for any lands beyond the heads or sources of any of the rivers 
which fall into the Atlantic Ocean from the west or northwest; or upon 
any lands whatever, which, not having been ceded to or purchased by 
us, as aforesaid, are reserved to the said Indians, or any of them.” 

The Revolution brought about several important changes in the terri¬ 
torial conditions of the former Colonies. So soon as the English author¬ 
ity was extinguished, the States which had once had charters asserted 
that the territory embraced by such charters reverted to them. In the 
second place, the restriction to land east of the Appalachian water-shed 
and outside Indian tracts was held to have no more force. In the third 
place, several communities, notably Vermont, asserted that they were no 
longer included within the State of which they had been a part while it 




STATE LAND CESSIONS. 


was still a colony. And in 1778 Virginia troops conquered the Northwest 
region, then a part of the English Province of Quebec. The result was 
confusion and clashing of interests. Western New York and Northern 
Pennsylvania were claimed by Massachusetts and Connecticut respec¬ 
tively ; New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, and Virginia all 
claimed the same parcel of territory north of the Ohio River; and the 
States with strictly defined boundaries, especially Maryland, protested 
against the appropriation by individual States of lands gained by the 
common effort of the Revolutionary War. 

The controversy delayed the ratification of the Articles of Confedera¬ 
tion [Leaflet No. 20) and was finally adjusted by a series of agreements 
between the competing States, and a series of cessions to the Union, not 
completed till 1802. Most of the documents in this 'important episode 
are to be found in the Journals of Congress and the United States 
Statutes at Large; reprints in : Hickey, Constitution of the United States ; 
Thomas Donaldson, The Tidlic Doi 7 iain; Bioren and Duane, Land 
Laws of the U^iited States; Atnericaji State Papers, Public Lands. 
Accounts of the controversy are II. B. Adams, Maryland's Influence tipon 
the La 7 ui Cessio 7 is to the U 7 iited States; (Johns Hopkins University 
Studies, HI., No. i); B. A. Hinsdale, The OldNo 7 'th 7 oest; F. J. Turner 
in A 77 ierica 7 i Historical Review, I., 70,251 ; G. T. Curtis, IIisto 7 y of 
the Co 7 istitictio 7 t, I., 291—301, [Co 7 istitutio 7 ial History, Ch. v. ) ; George 
Bancroft, History of the Co 7 istitutio 7 i, I., 127, 225, H. 100 [Histoiy of the 
U 7 iited States, last revision, VI., 96, 165, 229); J. B. McMaster, History 
of the U 7 iited States, I., III.; J. Story, Co 77 i 7 ne 7 itaries 07 i the Co 7 istitutio 7 i, 
§ § 227, 228. Bibliography of the subject may be found in Channing 
and Hart, Guide to the Study of A 77 ierica 7 i History, § 150 ; Justin Winsor, 
Narrative a 7 id Critical Histo 7 y, VIE, 520—534; J. J. Lalor, Cyclopccdia 
of Political Scie 7 ice, III., 920. 

Historical maps maybe found in H. C. Lodge, North A 7 nerica 7 i Col- 
o 7 iies, front; Albert B. Hart, Epoch Map?,, Nos. 5, 6, 9, [For 7 natio 7 i of the 
U 7 iio 7 i, Nos. 2-4); Labberton, Historical Atlas No. Ixvi; Gardiner, 

School Atlas, plate 48; W. M. Sloane, Fre 7 ich War a 7 id Revol 7 dio 7 i 

(end); T. MacCoun, Historical Geography; Pidward Channing, The 
U 7 iited States, 1765—1865 5 Justin Winsor, Na 7 -rative and Critical 
History, vii, 520 et seq. 

June, 1776. VIRGINIA CLAIM ASSERTED. 

The western and northern extent of Virginia shall in all 
other respects stand as fixed by the charter of king James 
the first, in the year one thousand six hundred and nine, 
and by the publick treaty of peace between the courts of Great 
Btdtain and France in the year one thousand seven hundred 
and sixty three; unless, by act of legislature, one or more 

territories shall hereafter be laid off, and governments 

established westward of the Allegheny mountains.—Hening, 
Statutes, IX, 118. 


r/A'G/N/A AND MARYLAND. 


3 


Oct. 30, 1776. MARYLAND PROTEST. 

Resolved unanimously., That it is the opinion of this con¬ 
vention, that the very extensive claim of the state of Virginia 
to the back lands hath no foundation in justice, and that if 
the same or any like claim is admitted, the freedom of the 
smaller states and the liberties of America may be thereby 
greatly endangered ; this convention being firmly persuaded 
that if the dominion over those lands should be established 
by the blood and treasure of the United States, such lands 
ought to be considered as a common stock, to be parcelled 
out at proper times into convenient, free and independent 
governments .—Conventions of Maryland, 293, 

Dec. 15, 1778. MARYLAND INSTRUCTIONS. 

Instructions of the general assembly of Maryland, to George 
Plater, William Paca, William Carmichael, John Henry, 
James Forbes and Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, esquires. 

Gentlemen, having conferred upon you a trust of the high¬ 
est nature, it is evident we place great confidence in your in¬ 
tegrity, abilities and zeal to promote the general welfare of 
the United States, and the particular interest of this state, 
where the latter is not incompatible with the former; but to 
add greater weight to your proceedings in Congress, and to 
take away all suspicion that the opinions you there deliver, and 
the votes you give may be the mere opinions of individuals, 
and not resulting from your knowledge of the sense and 
deliberate judgment of the state you represent, we think it 
our duty to instruct you as followeth on the subject of the 
confederation, a subject in which unfortunately a suj^posed 
difference of interest has produced an almost equal division 
of sentiments among the several states composing the union : 
We say a supposed difference of interests; for if local attach¬ 
ments and prejudices, and the avarice and ambition of indi¬ 
viduals, would give way to the dictates of a sound policy, 
founded on the principles of justice, (and no other policy but 
what is founded on those immutable principles deserves to be 
called sound,) we llatter ourselves this apparent diversity of 
interests would soon vanish; and all the states would con¬ 
federate on terms mutually advantageous to all; for they 


4 


STA TE LAND CESSIONS. 


would then perceive that no other confederation than one so 
formed can be lasting. Although the pressure of immediate 
calamities, the dread of their continuance from the appear¬ 
ance of disunion, and some other peculiar circumstances, 
may have induced some states to accede to the present con¬ 
federation, contrary to their own interests and judgments, it 
requires no great share of foresight to predict, that when those 
causes cease to operate, the states which have thus acceded 
to the confederation will consider it as no longer binding, 
and will eagerly embrace the first occasion of asserting their 
just rights and securing their independence. Is it possible 
that those states who are ambitiously grasping at territories, 
to which in our judgment they have not the least shadow of 
exclusive right, will use with greater moderation the increase 
of wealth and power derived from those territories, when 
acquired, than what they have displayed in their endeavours 
to acquire them ? we think not; we are convinced the 
same spirit which hath prompted them to insist on a claim so 
extravagant, so repugnant to every principle of justice, so 
incompatible with the general welfare of all the states, will 
urge them on to add oppression to injustice. If they should 
not be incited by a superiority of wealth and strength to op¬ 
press by open force their less wealthy and less powerful neigh¬ 
bours, yet, the depopulation, and consequently the impover¬ 
ishment of those states, will necessarily follow, which by an 
unfair construction of the confederation may be stripped of 
a common interest in, and the common benefits derivable from 
the western country. Suppose, for instance, Virginia indis¬ 
putably possessed of the extensive and fertile country -to 
which she has set up a claim, what would be the probable 
consequences to Maryland of such an undisturbed and undis¬ 
puted possession ? they cannot escape the least discerning. 

Virginia, by selling on the most moderate terms a small 
proportion of the lands in question, would draw' into her 
treasury vast sums of money, and in proportion to the sums 
arising from such sales, w'ould be enabled to lessen her taxes: 
lands comparatively cheap and taxes comparatively low', 
with the lands and taxes of an adjacent state, w^ould quickly 
drain the state thus disadvantageously circumstanced of its 
most useful inhabitants, its wealth ; and its consequence in 
the scale of the confederated states, would sink of course. 


AfA RYLAND INS TR UC TIONS. 


5 


A claim so injurious to more than one half if not to the 
Avhole of the United States, ought to be supported by the 
■clearest evidence of the right. Yet what evidences of that 
right have been produced? what arguments alledged in sup¬ 
port either of the evidence or the right; none that we have 
heard of deserving a serious refutation. 

It has been said that some of the delegates of a neighbour¬ 
ing state have declared their opinion of the impracticability 
of governing the extensive dominion claimed by that state; 
hence also the necessity was admitted of dividing its terri¬ 
tory and erecting a new state, under the auspices and 
direction of the elder, from whom no doubt it would receive 
its form of government, to whom it would be bound by some 
alliance or confederacy, and by whose councils it would be 
influenced : such a measure, if ever attempted, would cer¬ 
tainly be opposed by the other states, as inconsistent with 
the letter and spirit of the proposed confederation. Should 
it take place, by establishing a subconfederacy, imperium in 
imperio, the state possessed of this extensive dominion must 
then either submit to all the inconveniences of an overgrown 
and unwieldy government, or suffer the authority of Con¬ 
gress to interpose at a future time, and to lop off a part of 
its territorv to be erected into a new and free state, and 
admitted into a confederation on such conditions as shall be 
settled by nine slates. If it is necessary for the happiness 
and tranquility of a state thus overgrown, that Congress 
•should hereafter interfere and divide its territory ; why is the 
claim to that territory now made and so pertinaciously 
insisted on ? we can suggest to ourselves but two motives; 
either the declaration of relinquishing at some future period 
a portion of the country now contended for, was made to 
lull suspicion asleep, and to cover the designs of a secret 
ambition, or if the thought was seriously entertained, the 
lands are now claimed to reap an immediate profit from the 
sale.—We are convinced policy and justice require that a 
countrv unsettled at the commencement of this war, claimed 
by the British crown, and ceded to it by the treaty of Paris, 
if wrested from the common enemy by the blood and treasure 
of the thirteen states, should be considered as a common 
jjroperty, subject ito be parcelled out by Congress into free, 
convenient and independent governments, in such manner 


6 


STATE LAND CESSIONS. 


and at such times as the wisdom of that assembly shall here* 
after direct. Thus convinced, we should betray the trust 
reposed in us by our constituents, were we to authorize you 
to ratify on their behalf the confederation, unless it be farther 
explained : we have coolly and dispassionately considered the 
subject; we have weighed probable inconveniences and hard* 
ships against the sacrifice of just and essential rights; and 
do instruct you not to agree to the confederation, unless an 
article or articles be added thereto in conformity with our 
declaration : should we succeed in obtaining such article or 
articles, then you are hereby fully empowered to accede ta 
the confederation. 

That these our sentiments respecting the confederation 
may be more publicly known and more explicitly and con* 
cisely declared, we have drawn up the annexed declaration,, 
which we instruct you to lay before Congress, to have it 
printed, and to deliver to each of the delegates of the other 
states in Congress assembled copies thereof, signed by 
yourselves or by such of you as may be present at the time 
of the delivery; to the intent and purpose thnt tlie copies 
aforesaid may be communicated to our brethren of the 
United States, and the contents of the said declaration taken 
into their serious and candid consideration. 

Also we desire and instruct you to move at a proper time 
that these instructions be read to Congress by their secretary,, 
and entered on the journals of Congress. 

We have spoken with freedom, as becomes freemen ; and' 
we sincerely wisli, that these our representations may make 
such an impression on that assembly as to induce them to 
make such addition to the articles of confederation as may 
bring about a permanent union .—-Journals of Congress^. 
V. 208—211. 

Oct. 30, 1779. REMONSTRANCE OF CONGRESS.. 

Whereas the appropriation of vacant lands by the several 
states during the continuance of the war, will in the opinion 
of Congress, be attended with great mischiefs; therefore. 

Resolved., That it be earnestly recommended to the state of 
Virginia, to reconsider their late act of assembly for opening; 
their land office; and that it be recommended to the said 


APPEALS OF COATGPESS. 


7 


state, and all other states similarly circumstanced, to for¬ 
bear settling or issuing warrants for unappropriated lands, or 
granting the same during the continuance of the present 
war .—-Journals of Congress^ V. 401—402. 

Sept. 6, 1780. CONGRESS URGES CESSION. 

Congress took into consideration the report of the com¬ 
mittee to whom were referred the instructions of the gen- 
eral assembly of Maryland to their delegates in Congress, 
respecting the articles of confederation, and the declaration 
therein referred to, the act of the legislature of Nevv-York 
on the same subject, and the remonstrance of the general 
assembly of Virginia ; which report was agreed to, and is in 
the words following : 

That having duly considered the several matters to them 
submitted, they conceive it unnecessary to examine into the 
merits or policy of the instructions or declaration of the 
general assembly of Maryland, or of the remonstrance of 
the general assembly of Virginia, as they involve questions, 
a discussion of which was declined on mature consideration, 
when the articles of confederation were debated ; nor, in 
the opinion of the committee, can such questions be now 
revived with any prospect of conciliation ; that it appears 
more advisable to press upon those states which can remove 
the embarrassments respecting the western country, a liberal 
surrender of a portion of their territorial claims, since they 
cannot be preserved entire without endangering the sta¬ 
bility of the general confederacy; to remind them how 
indispensably necessary it is to establish the federal union 
on a fixed and permanent basis, and on principles accept¬ 
able to all its respective members; how essential to public 
credit and confidence, to the support of our army, to the 
vigour of our councils and success of our measures, to our 
tranquility at home, our reputation abroad, to our very exist¬ 
ence as a free, sovereign and independent people; that they 
are fullv persuaded the wisdom of the respective legislatures 
will lead them to a full and impartial consideration of a 
subject so interesting to the United States, and so necessary 
to the happy establishment of the federal union ; that they 
are confirmed in these expectations by a review of the be- 


8 


S7A 'fE LAND CESSIONS. 


forementioned act of the legislature of New-York, submitted 
to their consideration ; that this act is expressly calculated 
to accelerate the federal alliance, by removing, as far as 
depends on that state, the impediment arising from the west¬ 
ern country, and for that purpose to yield up a portion of 
territorial claim for the general benefit; whereupon, 

Resolved., That copies of the several papers referred to 
the committee be transmitted, with a copy of the report, to 
the legislatures of the several states, and that it be earn¬ 
estly recommended to those states, who have claims to the 
western country, to pass such laws, and give their delegates 
in Congress such powers, as may effectually remove the only 
obstacle to a final ratification of the articles of confedera¬ 
tion ; and that the legislature of Maryland be earnestly re¬ 
quested to authorize their delegates in Congress to subscribe 
the said articles ,—-Journals of Congress., VI. 179—180. 

Oct. 10, 1780. PLEDGE OF CONGRESS. 

Resolved., That the unappropriated lands that may be 
ceded or relinquished to the United States, by any particular 
state, pursuant to the recommendation of Congress of the 
6th clay of September last, shall be disposed of for the com¬ 
mon benefit of the United States, and l3e settled and formed 
into distinct republican stales, which shall become members 
of the federal union, and have the same rights of sovereignty, 
freedom and independence, as the other states ; that each 
state which shall be so formed shall contain a suitable extent 
of territory, not less than one hundred nor more than one 
hundred and fifty miles square, or as near thereto as circum¬ 
stances will admit : that the necessary and reasonable ex- 
pences which any particular state shall have incurred, since 
the commencement of the present war, in subduing any 
British posts, or in maintaining forts or garrisons within and 
for the defence, or in acquiring any part of the territory that 
may be ceded or relinquished to the United States, shall be 
reimbursed : 

That the said lands shall be granted or settled at such 
times and under such regulations as shall hereafter be agreed 
on by the United States in Congress assembled, or any nine 
or more of them .—Journals of Congress, VI., 213. 


JVEIF YORK. 


9 


Mar. I, 1781. NEW YORK CESSION. 

To all who shall see these presents, we James Duane, 
William E'loyd, and Alexander M’Dougall, the underwritten, 
delegates for the State of New-York in the honorable Con¬ 
gress of the United States of America, send greeting: 

Whereas, by an act of the Legislature of the said state of 
New-York, passed at a session held at Albany, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty, 
entitled “ An act to facilitate the completion of the articles 
of confederation and perpetual union among the United 
States of Americait is declared that the people of the 
slate of New York, were on all occasions disposed to mani¬ 
fest their' regard for their sister states, and their earnest 
desire to promote the general interest and security, and 
more especially to accelerate the federal alliance, by remov¬ 
ing, as far as it depended upon them, the impediment to its 
final accomplishment, respecting the waste and uncultivated 
lands within the limits of certain states ; and it is thereby 
enacted by the people of the said state of New-York, repre¬ 
sented in senate and assembly, and by the authority of the 
same, that it might and should be lawful to and for the dele¬ 
gates of the said state in the honorable Congress, and they 
or the major part of them, so assembled, are thereby fully 
authorized and empowered, for and on behalf of that state, 
and by proper and authentic acts or instruments, to limit and 
restrict the boundaries of the said state in such manner and 
form as they shall judge to be expedient, either with respect 
to the jurisdiction, as well as the right or pre-emption of soil, 
or reserving the jurisdiction in part or in the whole, over the 
lands which may be ceded or relinquished with respect only 
to the right of pre-emption of the soil : and by the said 
act it is farther enacted, that the territory which may be 
ceded or relinquished by virtue thereof, either with respect to 
the jurisdiction, as well as the right of pre-emption of soil, 
or the right of pre-emption of soil only, shall be and enure 
for the use and benefit of such of the United States, as shall 
become members of the federal alliance of the said states, 
and for no other use or purpose whatsoever: and by the said 
act it is provided and enacted that the trust reposed by 
virtue thereof, shall not be executed by the delegates of the 


10 


STATE LAND CESSIONS. 


said state, unless at least three of the said delegates shall 
be present in Congress: and whereas, by letters patent under 
the great seal of the said state of New-York, bearing date 
the 29th day of October last past, reciting that the senate 
and assembly had, on the 12th day of September then last 
past, nominated and appointed us, the said James Duane, 
Vvilliam Floyd, and Alexander M’Dougall, together with 
John Morin Scott and Ezra L’Hommedieu, delegates to rep¬ 
resent the said state in the Congress of the United States of 
North America, therefore in pursuance of the said nomina¬ 
tion and appointment, the people of the said state of New- 
York, dicl thereby commission us, the said James Duane, 
William Floyd, and Alexander M’Dougall, and the said John 
Morin Scott and Ezra L’Hommedieu, or any majority who 
should from time to time attend the said Congress ; and if 
only one of the said delegates should at any time be present 
in the said Congress, he should in such case, be authorized 
to represent the said state in the said Congress, as by an 
authentic copy of the said act, and an exemplification of the 
said commission, remaining among the archives of Congress, 
fully appears. 

Now therefore know ye, that we, the said James Duane, 
William Floyd, and Alexander M’Dougall, by virtue of the 
power and authority, and in the execution of the trust 
reposed in us as aforesaid, have judged it expedient to limit 
and restrict, and we do by these presents, for and in behalf 
of the said state of New-York, limit and restrict the boun¬ 
daries of the said state in the western parts thereof, with 
respect to the jurisdiction, as well as the right or pre-emption 
of soil, by the lines and in the form following, that is to say : 
a line from the north east corner of the state of Pennsyl¬ 
vania, along the north bounds thereof to its northwest cor¬ 
ner continued, due west, until it shall be intersected by a 
meridian line, to be drawn from the forty-fifth degree of north 
latitude, through the most westerly bent or inclination of 
lake Ontario ; thence by the said meridian line to the forty- 
fifth degree of north latitude : and thence by the said forty- 
fifth degree of north latitude : but if on experiment, the 
above described meridian line shall not comprehend twenty 
miles due west from the most westerly bent or inclination of 
the river or strait of Niagara, then we do by these presents. 


CONNECTICUT-PENNS YL VA NIA. 11 

in the name of the people, and for and on behalf of the 
state of New-York, and by virtue of the authority aforesaid, 
limit and restrict the boundaries of the said state in the 
Avestern parts thereof, with respect to jurisdiction, as well as 
the right of pre-emption of soil, by the lines and in the 
manner following, that is to say; a line from the north east 
corner of the state of Pennsylvania, along the north bounds 
thereof, to its north west corner, continued due west until it 
shall be intersected by a meridian line to be drawn from the 
forty-fifth degree of north latitude, through a point twenty 
miles due west from the most westerly bent or inclination of 
the river or strait Niagara; thence by the said meridian line 
to the forty-fifth degree of north latitude, and thence by 
the said forty-fifth degree of north latitude : And we do by 
these presents, in the name of the people, and for and on 
behalf of the state of New-York, and by virtue of the power 
and trust committed to us by the said act and commission, 
cede, transfer, and forever relinquish to, and for the only use 
and benefit of such of the states as are or shall become par¬ 
ties to the articles of confederation, all the right, title, 
interest, jurisdiction and claim, of the said state of New- 
York to all lands and territories to the northward and west¬ 
ward of the boundaries, to which the said state is in manner 
aforesaid limited and restricted, and to be granted, disposed 
of, and appropriated in such manner only, as the Congress of 
the said United or Confederated States shall order and 
■direct .—-Journals of Congress, VII., 46-48. 

Dec. 30, 1782- DECISION OF ARBITRATORS IN 
CONNECTICUT-PENNSYLVANIA CASE. 

Monday, 30th December, 1782. 

The court met—Present as before. 

The agents attending. 

The court pronounced the following sentence or judgment : 

This cause has been well argued by the learned council 
on both sides. The court are now to pronounce their sen¬ 
tence or judgment : 

We are unanimously of opinion, that the state of Connec¬ 
ticut has no right to the lands in controversy. 

We are also unanimously of opinion, that the jurisdiction 


12 


STA TE LAND CESSIONS. 


and pre-emption of all the territory lying within the charted 
boundary of Pennsylvania, and now claimed by the state of 
Connecticut, do of right belong to the state of Pennsylvania^ 
—-Journals of Congress. —VIII. 83-84. 

April 18, 1783. CONGRESS URGES CESSION. 

Resolved * * * That as a further mean, as well of hastening 
the extinguishment of the debts, as of establishing the har¬ 
mony of the United States, it be recommended to the states 
which have passed no acts towards complying with the reso¬ 
lutions of Congress of the 6th of September and loth of Octo¬ 
ber, 1780, relative to the cession of territorial claims, to- 
make the liberal cessions therein recommended, and to- 
the states which may have passed acts complying with the 
said resolutions in part only, to revise and compleat such 
compliance.—[In the vote submitting the revenue amend¬ 
ment .]—of Congress., VIII., 188. 

Dec. 20, 1783. VIRGINIA CESSION. 

To ALL who shall see these presents, We, Thomas Jefferson,. 
Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee and James Monroe, the under¬ 
written delegates for the commonwealth of Virginia, in the 
Congress of the United States of America, send greeting. 

Whereas the general assembly of the commonw'ealth of 
Virginia, at their sessions begun on the 20th day of October, 
1783, passed an act entitled “An Act to authorize the Dele¬ 
gates of this State in Congress, to convey to the United 
States in Congress assembled, all the Right of this Common¬ 
wealth to the Territorv North Westward of the River Ohio,’^ 
in these words following, to wit; 

I . “Whereas, the Congress of the United States did, by 
their Act of the sixth day of Septeniber, in the year one thoiK 
sand seven hundred and eighty, recommend to the several 
States in the Union, having claims to waste and unappro¬ 
priated lands in the Western Country, a liberal Cession to the 
United States, of a portion of their respective claims for the 
common benefit of the Union. 

II. And whereas this Commonwealth did, on the second 
day of Jatiuary, in the year one thousand seven hundred 


VIRGINIA. 


and eighty-one, yield to the Congress of the United States, 
for the benefit of the said States, all right, title, and claim, 
which the said Commonwealth had to the territory North¬ 
west of the river Ohio^ subject to the conditions annexed 
to the said act of cession. 

III. And wj^ereas the United States in Congress assem¬ 
bled, have by their Act of the thirteenth of Sept€?nber last, 
stipulated the terms on which they agree to accept the ces¬ 
sion of this State, should the Legislature approve thereof, 
which terms, although they do not come fully up to the prop¬ 
ositions of this Commonwealth, are conceived on the whole, 
to approach so nearly to them, as to induce this State to ac¬ 
cept thereof, in full confidence that Congress will, in justice 
to this State for the liberal Cession she hath made, earnestly 
press upon the other States claiming large tracts of waste 
and uncultivated territory, the propriety of making cessions 
equally liberal, for the common benefit and support of the 
Union : 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that it shall and may 
be lawful for the Delegates of this State to the Congress of 
the United States, or such of them as shall be assembled in 
Congress, and the said Delegates, or such of them so as¬ 
sembled, are hereby fully authorized and empowered, for 
and on behalf of this state, by proper deeds or instrument in 
writing, under their hands and seals, to convey, transfer, 
assign, and make over, unto the United States in Congress 
assembled, for the benefit of.the said States, all right, title, 
and claim, as well of soil as jurisdiction, which this Common¬ 
wealth hath to the territory or tract of country within the 
limits of the Virginia charter, situate, lying, and being to the 
North-west of the river Ohio, subject to the terms and con¬ 
ditions contained in the before recited Act of Congress of the 
thirteenth day of September last, that is to say: Upon con¬ 
dition that the territory so ceded shall be laid out and formed 
into States, containing a suitable extent of territory, not less 
than one hundred, nor more than one hundred and fifty miles 
square, or as near thereto as circumstances will admit; and 
that the States so formed, shall be distinct Republican States, 
and admitted members of the Foederal Union having the 
same rights of sovereignty, freedom, and independence, as 
the other States ; that the necessary and reasonable expences 


14 


STA TE LAND CESSIONS. 


incurred by this State in subduing any British posts, or in 
maintaining forts or garrisons within and for the defence, or 
in acquiring any part of the territory so ceded or relinquished,, 
shall be fully reimbursed by the United States ; and that 
one .Commissioner shall be appointed by Congress, one by 
this Commonwealth, and another by those two Commissioners^ 
who, or a majority of them, shall be authorized and empow¬ 
ered to adjust and liquidate the account of the necessary and 
reasonable expenses incurred by this State, which they shall 
judge to be comprised within the intent and meaning of the 
Act of Congress of the tenth of October., one thousand seven 
hundred and eighty, respecting such expences. That the 
French and Canadia?i inhabitants, and other settlers of the 
Kaskaskies, St. Vince 7 its, and the neighbouring villages, who 
have professed themselves citizens of Virginia, shall have 
their possessions and titles confirmed to them, and be pro¬ 
tected in the enjoyment of their rights and liberties. That a 
quantity not exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand acres 
of land, promised by this State, shall be allowed and granted, 
to the then Colonel, now General George Rogers Clarke, and 
to the officers and soldiers of his regiment, who marched with 
him when the posts of Kaskaskies and St. Vincents were re¬ 
duced, and to the officers and soldiers that have been since 
incorporated into the said regiment, to be laid off in one 
tract, the length of which not to exceed double the breadth, in 
such place on the North-west side of the Ohio as a majority 
of the officers shall choose, and to be afterwards divided among 
the said officers and soldiers in due proportion according to 
the laws of Virginia. That in case the quantity of good 
lands on the South-east side of the Ohio, upon the waters of 
Ciimberlafid river, and between the Green river, and Tennessee 
river, which have been reserved by law for the Virginia 
troops upon Continental establishment, should, from the 
North-Carolina line bearing in further upon the Cumbet'- 
laiid lands than was expected, prove insufficient for their 
legal bounties, the deficiency should be made up to the said 
troops in good lands, to be laid off between the rivers Scioto 
and Little Miami, on the North-west side of the river Ohio, in 
such proportions as have been engaged to them by the laws, 
of Virginia. That all the lands within the territory so ceded 
to the United States, and not reserved for or appropriated 


VIRGINIA. 


15 

to any of the beforementioned purposes, or disposed of in 
bounties to the officers and soldiers of the American army, 
shall be considered as a common fund for the use and 
benefit of such of the United States as have become, or shall 
become members of the Confederation or Foederal Alliance 
of the said States, Virginia inclusive, according to their usual 
respective proportions in the general charge and expenditure, 
and shall be faithfully and i?ona fide disposed of for that 
purpose, and for no other use or purpose whatsoever. Pro¬ 
vided., that the trust hereby reposed in the Delegates of this 
State shall not be executed unless three of them, at least, are 
present in Congress .”—Acts of Assembly., 1736—1794, pp. 

And whereas the said general assembly, by their resolution 
of June sixth, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, 
had constituted and appointed us the said Thomas Jeffer¬ 
son, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee, and James Monroe, dele¬ 
gates to represent the said commonwealth in Congress for 
one year, from the first Monday in November then next 
following, which resolution remains in full force: Now 
THEREFORE KNOW YE, that we the said Thomas Jeffer¬ 
son, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee and James Monroe, by 
virtue of the power and authority committed to us by the 
act of the said general assembly of Virginia before recited, 
and in the name, and for and on behalf of the said common¬ 
wealth, do by these presents convey, transfer, assign, and 
make over unto the United States in Congress assembled, 
for the benefit of the said states, Virginia inclusive, all right, 
title and claim, as well of soil as of jurisdiction, which the 
said commonwealth hath to the territory or tract of country 
within the limits of the Virginia charter, situate, lying and 
being to the north-west of the river Ohio, to and for the uses 
and purposes, and on the conditions of the said recited act. 
—-Journals of Congress, IX., 67-70. 

April 29, 1784. CONGRESS URGES CESSION. 

Congress by their resolution of September 6, 1780, having 
thought it adviseable to press upon the states having claims 
to the western country, a liberal surrender of a portion of 
their territorial claims ; by that of the loth of October, in the 


i6 


STATE LAA^D CESSIONS. 


same year, having fixed conditions to which the union should be 
bound on receiving such cessions : and having again proposed 
the same subject to those states, in their address of April 
i8th, 1783, wherein, stating the national debt, and expressing 
their reliance for its discharge, on the prospect of vacant 
territory, in aid of other resources, they, for that purpose, as 
well as to obviate disagreeable controversies and confusions, 
included in the same recommendations, a renewal of those 
of September 6th, and of October the loth, 1780 ; which sev¬ 
eral recommendations have not yet been fully complied with : 

Resolved., That the same subject be again presented to the 
attention of the said states; that they be urged to consider 
that the war being now brought to a happy termination by 
the personal services of our soldiers, the supplies of property 
by our citizens, and loans of money from them as well as from 
foreigners ; these several creditors have a right to expect 
that funds shall be provided on which they may rely for in¬ 
demnification ; that Congress still consider vacant ter¬ 
ritory as an important resource: and that therefore the said 
states be earnestly pressed, by immediate and liberal ces¬ 
sions, to forward these necessary ends, and to promote the 
harmony of the union .”—Journals of Congress., IX., 184-5. 

April 19, 1785. MASSACHUSETTS CESSION. 

To all who shall see these presents, we Samuel Holten 
and Rufus King, the underwritten delegates for the com¬ 
monwealth of Massachusetts in the Congress of the United 
States of America, send greeting. 

Whereas the general court of Massachusetts, on the thir¬ 
teenth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
seven hundred and eighty four, passed an act entitled,“ An 
Act empowering the Delegates of this Commonwealth, in the 
United States in Congress assembled, to relinquish to the 
United States certain Lands, the Property of this Common¬ 
wealth,” in the words following : “Whereas several of the 
States in the union, have at present no interest in the great 
and extensive tract of uncultivated country, lying in the 
westerly part of the United States, and it may be reasonable 
that the States abovementioned should be interested in 
the aforesaid country : 


MASS A CHUSE TTS. 


J? 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives^ in 
Gejieral Court assembled^ and by the authority of the same^ 
That the delegates of this Commonwealth, in the United 
States in Congress assembled, or any three of the said 
delegates, be, and they hereby are authorized and em¬ 
powered for and in behalf of this Commonwealth, to 
cede or relinquish, by authentic conveyance or convey¬ 
ances, to the United States, to be disposed of for the 
common benefit of the same, agreeably to a resolve of Con¬ 
gress, of October the tenth, one thousand seven hundred and 
eighty, such part of that tract of land belonging to this Com¬ 
monwealth, which lies between the rivers Hudson and Missis¬ 
sippi, as they may think proper; and to make the said ces¬ 
sion in such manner and on such conditions as shall appear 
to them to be most suitable.” And whereas the said general 
court, on the seventeenth day of March, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty five, passed one 
other act entitled, “ An Act in Addition to an Act, entitled 
‘An Act empowering the Delegates of this Commonwealth, in 
the United States in Congress assembled, to relinquish to 
the United States, certain Lands the Property of this Com¬ 
monwealth,’” in the words following: “ Whereas 
aforesaid, three delegates represeJiting this State in Congress, 
are necessary to make the cession aforesaid, and it may be 
necessary that the said business should be performed by a 
less ?iumber of the said delegates: Be it therefore enacted by 
the Senate and House of Representatives, ui General Court 
assembled, and by the authority of the same. That any two 
delegates representing this Commonwealth in Congress, be, 
and hereby are authorized and empowered, to do and per¬ 
form all matters and things which by the act aforesaid might 
be done and performed by any three delegates as aforesaid, 
anything in the aforesaid act notwithstanding.” And whereas 
the said general court on the seventeenth day of June, in the 
aforesaid year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and 
eighty four, did nominate and appoint the aforesaid Samuel 
Holien, and on the third day of November following, the 
aforesaid Rufus King, delegates to represent the said com¬ 
monwealth of Massachusetts in the Congress of the United 
States of America, for one year, from the first Monday of No¬ 
vember in the said year, one thousand seven hundred and 


i8 


STATE LAND CESSIONS. 


eighty four, which appointment remains in full force. Now, 
therefore, know ye, that we the said Samuel Holten and 
Rufus King, by virtue of the power and authority to us com¬ 
mitted by the said acts of the general court of Massachu¬ 
setts before recited, in the name, and for and on behalf of 
the said commonwealth of Massachusetts, do by these 
presents, assign, transfer, quit claim, cede and convey to 
the United States of America, for their benefit, Massachu¬ 
setts inclusive, all right, title and estate of and in as well 
the soil as the jurisdiction, which the said commonwealth 
hath to the territory or tract of country within the limits of 
the Massachusetts charter, situate and lying w'est of the fol¬ 
lowing line—That is to say, a meridian line to be drawn from 
the forty-fifth degree of north latitude, through the westerly 
bent or inclination of lake Ontario, thence by the said me¬ 
ridian line, to the most southerly side line of the territory 
contained in the Massachusetts charter; but if on experi¬ 
ment the above described meridian line shall not compre¬ 
hend twenty miles due west from the most westerly bent or 
inclination of the river or strait of Niagara, then we do by 
these presents by virtue of the power and authority afore¬ 
said, in the name and on behalf of the said commonwealth 
of Massachusetts, transfer, quit claim, cede and convey to 
the United States of America, for their benefit, Massachu¬ 
setts inclusive, all right, title and estate, of and in as well 
the soil as the jurisdiction, which the said commonwealth 
hath to the territory or tract of country within the limits of 
the Massachusetts charter, situate and lying west of the fol¬ 
lowing line—That is to say, a meridian line to be drawn from 
the forty-fifth degree of north latitude through a point 
twenty miles due west from the most W'esterly bent or incli¬ 
nation of the river or strait of Niagara ; thence by the said 
meridian line to the most southerly side line of the territory, 
contained in the Massachusetts charter aforesaid, for the 
purposes in the said recited acts declared, and to the uses in 
a resolve of Congress, of the tenth day of October, one thou¬ 
sand seven hundred and eighty, mentioned .—Acts and Laws 
of Massachusetts, 1783—1789, pp. 218, 273-274 .—-Journals 
of Congress, X., 128-130. 


FIRST CONNECTICUT. 


19 

Sept. 14, 1786. FIRST CONNECTICUT CESSION. 

To all who shall see these presents, we, William Samuel 
Johnson and Jonathan Sturges, the underwritten delegates 
for the state of Connecticut, in the Congress of the United 
States, send greeting. Whereas the general assembly of the 
state of Connecticut, on the second Thursday of May, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty six, 
passed an act in the words following, viz : “ Be it enacted by 
the governor, council and representatives in general court as¬ 
sembled, and by the authority of the same, that the delegates 
of this state, or any two of them who shall be attending the 
Congress of the United States, be and they are hereby di¬ 
rected, authorized and fully empowered in the name and be¬ 
half of this state, to make, execute and deliver, under their 
hands and seals, an ample deed of release and cession of all 
the right, title, interest, jurisdiction and claim, of the state of 
Connecticut to certain western lands, beginning at the com¬ 
pletion of the forty-first degree of north latitude, one hun¬ 
dred and twenty miles west'of the western boundary line of 
the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as now claimed by said 
commonwealth, and from thence by a line drawn north, 
parallel to, and one hundred and twenty miles west of the 
said west line of Pennsylvania, and to continne north until 
it comes to forty-two degrees and two minutes north latitude. 
Whereby all the right, title, interest, jurisdiction and claim 
of the state of Connecticut, to the lands lying west of said 
line to be drawn as aforementioned, one hundred and twenty 
miles west of the western boundary line of the common¬ 
wealth of Pennsylvania, as now claimed by said common¬ 
wealth, shall be included, released and ceded to the United 
States in Congress assembled, for the common use and bene¬ 
fit of the said states, Connecticut inclusive.” * * * Now there¬ 
fore know ye, that we the said William Samuel Johnson 
and Jonathan Sturges, by virtue of the power and authority 
to us committed by the said act of the general assembly of 
Connecticut, before recited, in the name, and for and on 
behalf of the said state of Connecticut, do, by these presents 
assign, transfer, quit claim, cede and convey to the United 
States of America, for their benefit, Connecticut inclusive, 
all the right, title, interest, jurisdiction and claim which 


20 


STATE LAND CESSIONS. 


the said state of Connecticut hath in and to the beforemen- 
tioned and described territory or tract of country, as the 
same is bounded and described in the said act of assembly, 
for the uses in the said recited act of assembly declared.— 
Jotmials of Co 7 igress, XI., 221-223. 

April 24, 1787. SETTLEMENT,BETWEEN GEORGIA 
AND SOUTH CAROLINA. 

That the underwritten commis¬ 
sioners on the part of the states of South-Carolina and 
Georgia respectively, having by mutual consent assembled 
at the town of Beaufort, in the state of South-Carolina, on 
the twenty-fourth day of this present month of April, in 
order to the due execution of their respective trusts, and 
having reciprocally exchanged and considered their full 
powers, and declared the same legal, and forever binding 
on both states, and having conferred together on the most 
effectual means of adjusting the differences subsisting 
between the two states, and of establishing and permanently 
fixing a boundary between them, have agreed, and by these 
presents for and in .behalf of their respective states, do 
mutually agree to the following articles, that is to say 

ARTICLE THE FIRST, 

The most northern branch or stream of the river Sa¬ 
vannah, from the sea or mouth of such stream to the 
fork or confluence of the rivers now called Tugalo and 
Keowee; and from thence the most northern branch or 
stream of the said river Tugalo, till it intersects the north¬ 
ern boundary line of South-Carolina, if the said branch or 
stream of Tugalo extends so far north, reserving all the 
islands in the said rivers Savannah and Tugalo, to Georgia; 
but if the head spring or source of any branch or stream of 
the said river Tugalo does not extend to the north boundary 
line of South-Carolina, then a west line to the Missisippi, 
to be drawn from the head spring or source of the said 
branch or stream of Tugalo River, which extends to the 
highest northern latitude, shall forever hereafter form the 
separation, limit and boundary between the states of South- 
Carolina and Georgia. 


GEORGIA-SOUTH CAROL/HA. 


21 


ARTICLE THE SECOND. 

The navigation of the river Savannah, at and from 
the bar and mouth, along the northeast side of Cock- 
spur Island, and up the direct course of the main 
northern channel, along the northern side of Hutchin¬ 
son’s Island, opposite the town of Savannah, to the upper 
end of the said island, and from thence up the bed or prin¬ 
cipal stream of the said river to the confluence of the 
rivers Tugalo and Keovvee, and from the confluence up the 
channel of the most northern stream of Tugalo River to its 
source, and back again by the same channel to the Atlantic 
Ocean—is hereby declared to be hence forth equally free to 
the citizens of both states, and exempt from all duties, tolls, 
hinderance, interruption and molestation whatsoever, at¬ 
tempted to be enforced by one state on the citizens of an¬ 
other; and all the rest of the river Savannah to the southward 
of the foregoing description is acknowledged to be the 
exclusive right of the state of Georgia. 

ARTICLE THE THIRD. 

The state of South-Carolina shall not hereafter claim 
any land, to the eastward, southward, southeastward or 
west of the boundary above established, but hereby 
relinquishes and cedes to the state of Georgia all the 
right, title and claim which the said state of South-Carolina 
hath to the government, sovereignty and jurisdiction in and 
over the same, and also the right of pre-emption of the soil 
from the native Indians, and all other the estate, property 
and claim which the state of South-Carolina hath in or to 
the said land. 

ARTICLE THE FOURTH. 

The state of Georgia shall not hereafter claim any 
lands to the northward or northeastward of the boundary 
above established, but hereby relinquishes and cedes to 
the state of South-Carolina all the right, title and claim 
which the said state of Georgia hath to the government, 
sovereignty and jurisdiction in and over the same, and 
also the right of pre-emption of the soil from the native 
Indians, and all otlier the estate, property and claim which the 
state of Georgia hath in or to the said lands. 


22 


STATE LAND CESSIONS. 


ARTICLE THE FIFTH. 

The lands heretofore granted by either of the said 
states, between the forks of Tugalo and Keowee shall 
be the private property of the first grantees, and their 
respective heirs and assigns; and the grantees of any 
of the said lands under the state of Georgia shall, within 
twelve months from the date hereof, cause such grants or 
authentic copies thereof, ratified-under the seal of the state of 
Georgia, to be deposited in the office of the secretary of the 
state of South-Carolina, to the end that the same may be 
recorded there; and after the same shall have been so re-, 
corded, the grantees shall be entitled to receive again from 
the said secretary their respective grants, or the copies 
thereof, whichsoever may have been so deposited, without 
any charge or fee of office whatsoever; and every grant 
which shall not, or of which the copy certified as above 
mentioned shall not be so deposited, shall be adjudged void. 

ARTICLE THE SIXTH. 

The commissioners on the part of the state of South- 
Carolina do not by any of the above articles mean to 
cede, relinquish or weaken the right, title and claim 
of any of the individual citizens of the state of South-Caro¬ 
lina to any lands situated in Georgia, particularly to the lands 
situated to the south or southwest of the river Alatamaha, 
and granted during the administration of governor Boone, 
in the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-three ; and 
they do hereby declare, that the right and title of the said 
citizens to the same is and ought to remain as full, strong 
and effectual as if this convention had not been made. The 
commissioners on the part of the state of Georgia do decline 
entering into any negociation relative to the lands mentioned 
in this article, as they conceive they are not authorized so 
to do by the powers delegated to them.—Marbury and 
Crawford, Digest of the Laws of Georgia^ pp. 664-665,— 
Joimials of Congress., XII., 133-135. 

Aug. 9, 1787. SOUTH CAROLINA CESSION. 

To all who shall see these presents : 

We, John Kean and Daniel Huger, the underwritten dele- 


SOUTH CAROLINA. 


23 


«:ates for the state of South-Carolina, in the Congress of the 
United States, send greeting: 

Whereas the general assembly of the state of South-Caro¬ 
lina, on the eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, passed an act in 
the words following, viz, “An Act to authorize the Delegates 
of this State in Congress, to convey to the United States in 
Congress assembled, all the Right of this State to the Terri¬ 
tory herein described : 

Whereas the Congress of the United States did on 
the 6th day of September, 1780, recommend to the 
several States in the Union having claims to western terri¬ 
tory, to make a liberal cession to the United States of a por¬ 
tion of their respective claims for the common benefit of the 
Union : And whereas this State is willing to adopt every 
measure which can tend to promote the honor and dignity of 
the United States, and strengthen their foederal Union : 

Be it therefore enacted [by the honorable the senate and 
house of representatives, in general assembly met, and sitting 
and by the authority of the same] That it shall and may be 
lawful for the Delegates of this State to the Congress of the 
United States, or such of them as shall be assembled in Con¬ 
gress, and they are hereby fully authorized and empowered, for 
and on behalf of this State by proper deeds or instruments in 
writing, under their hands and seals, to convey, transfer, as¬ 
sign, and make over unto the United States in Congress 
assembled, for the benefit of the said States, all right, title 
and claim as well of soil as jurisdiction which this State 
hath to the territory or tract of country within the limits of 
the charter of South-Carolina, situate, lying and being within 
the boundaries and lines hereinafter described ; that is to 
say, all the territory or tract of country included within the 
river Missisippi, and a line beginning at that part of the 
said river which is intersected by the southern boundary 
line of the State of North-Carolina, and continuing along 
the said boundary line, until it intersects the ridge or chain 
of mountains which divides the eastern from the western 
waters, then to be continued along the top of the said ridge 
of mountains, until it intersects a line to be drawn due west 
from the head of the southern branch of Tugoloo river to 
the said mountains; and thence to run a due west course to 


24 


STATE LAND CESSIONS. 


the river Missisippi.—[In the senate house, the eighth day 
of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hun¬ 
dred and eighty-seven, and in the eleventh year of the inde¬ 
pendence of tlie United States of America. John Lloyd, 
president of the senate ;—John Julius Pringle, speaker of the 
house of representatives.”] And whereas the said John Kean, 
and Daniel Huger, were on the sixth day of March, one 
thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, elected delegates 
to represent the state of South-Carolina, according to the 
law of said state, in the Congress of the United States until 
the first Monday in November, in the said year one thousand 
seven hundred and eighty-seven, which election remains in 
full force, and the said John Kean and Daniel Huger are the 
lawful delegates of said state, in the Congress of the United 
States; Now therefore. Know Ye, that we, the said John 
Kean and Daniel Huger, by virtue of the power and autho¬ 
rity to us committed by the said act of the general assembly 
of South-Carolina before recited, in the name, and for and 
in behalf of the state of South-Carolina, do by these presents, 
assign, transfer, quit claim, cede and convey to the United 
States of America, for their benefit, (South-Carolina inclusive) 
all the right, title, interest, jurisdiction and claim which the 
state of South-Carolina hath in and to the before mentioned 
and described territory or tract of country, as the same is 
bounded and described in the said act of assembly, for the 
uses in the said recited act of assembly declared.—Grimke, 
The Public Laws of South Carolina, 415 —Journals of Con¬ 
gress, XIL, 137-138. 

Dec. 30, 1788. VIRGINIA MODIFICATION. 

I. Whereas the United States in Congress assembled, did, 
on the seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand seven hundred and eighty-six, state certain reasons, 
shewing that a division of the Territory which hath been 
ceded to the said United States by this Commonwealth, intO' 
States, in conformity to the terms of Cession, should the 
same be adhered to, would be attended with many inconven¬ 
iences, and did recommend a revision of the Act of Cession, 
so far as to empower Congress to make such a division of 
the said Territory into distinct and republican States, not 


F/KG/N/A MODIF/CA 770A\ 


25 


more than five, nor less than three in number, as the situa¬ 
tion of that Country and future circumstances might require: 
And the said United States in Congress assembled, have 
in an ordinance for the government of the Territory North¬ 
west of the river O/iio, passed on the thirteenth of one 

thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, declared the 
following as one of the articles of compact between the orig¬ 
inal States, and the People and States in the said Territory, 
viz. 

That there shall be formed in the said Territory not less than 
three^ nor more than five States, and the bounderies of the said 
States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession, and 
■consent to the sa?ne, shall become fixed and established as follows, 
to wit: The Western State iti the said territory, shall be bounded 
by the Missisippi, the Ohio, aJid Wabash rivers, a direct line 
draicm from the Wabash and Post Vincent’s due fiorth to the 
territorial line, betiveefi the U?iited States and Canada, and by 
ihe said territorial line to ///<?Lake of the Wood and Missisippi. 
The middle State shall be bounded by the said direct line, the 
Wabash from Post Vincent’s to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a 
■direct line drawn due North ft'om the mouth of the Great 
Miami to the said territorial line, and by the said territorial line. 
The Eastern State shall be bounded by the last mentioned direct 
line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line. 
Provided, however, and it is further understood and declared, 
that the boumiaries of these three States shall be sidyject so far to 
be altered^ that if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they 
shall have authority to form one or two States in that part of 
the said Territory which lies Notdh of an East and West line, 
drawn through the Southerly bend or extreme f^lake Michigan. 
And ivhenei'er any of the said States shall have sixty thousand 
free inhabitants therein, such State shall be ad 7 }iitted by its 
Delegates into the Congress of the United States, on an equal 
footing with the original States in all respects 70 hat soever, and 
shall be at liberty to form a permafient Constitution and State 
Government, proin'ded the Constitution and Govei^nment so to be 
formed shall be republican, and in co?iformity to the prificiples 
contained in these articles', and so far as it can be consistent 
7vith the general interest of the Confederacy, such admission shall 
be allo7ved at an earlier period, and 7 vhen there may be a less 
number of free inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand. 


20 


STATE LAND CESSIONS. 


And it is expedient that this Commonwealth do assent to 
the proposed alteration so as to ratify and confirm the said 
Article of Compact between the original States, and the Peo¬ 
ple and States in the said Territory. 

II. Be it therefore enacted by the Getter at Assembly., That 
the afore-recited Article of Compact between the original 
States, and the People and States in the Territory North-west 
of Ohio river, be, and the same is hereby ratified and con¬ 
firmed, anything to the contrary, in the deed of Cession of 
the said Territory by this Commonwealth to the United States, 
notwithstanding.— Acts of Assembly, 1736-1794, p. 47. 

Dec. 22, 1789. NORTH CAROLINA CESSION. 

“An Act for the Purpose of ceding to the United States 
of America, certain Western Lands therein described. 

Whereas the United States in Congress assembled, have 
repeatedly and earnestly recommended to the respective 
States in the Union claiming or owning vacant Western 
Territory, to make Cessions of Part of the same, as a further 
Means, as well of hastening the Extinguishment of the Debts, 
as of establishing the Harmony of the United States; and 
the Inhabitants of the said Western Territory being also 
desirous that such Cession should be made, in order to obtain 
a more ample Protection than they have heretofore received : 
Now this State, being ever desirous of doing ample Justice 
to the public Creditors, as well as the establishing the Har¬ 
mony of the United States, and complying with the reason¬ 
able Desires of her Citizens ; 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of 
North-Carolina, and it is hereby enacted by the Authority of 
the same, That the Senators of this State in the Congress of 
the United States, or one of the Senators and any two of the 
Representatives of this State in the Congress of the United 
States, are hereby authorized, empowered and required to 
execute a Deed or Deeds on the Part and Behalf of this State, 
conveying to the United States of America, bW Right, Title, 
and Claim which this State has to the Sovereignty and Terri¬ 
tory of the Lands situate within the chartered Limits of this 
State, West of a Line beginning on the extreme Height of the 
Stone Mountain, at the Place where the Virginia line intersects 


NORTH CAROLINA. 


27 


it; running thence along the extreme Height of the said Moun¬ 
tain, to the Place where IVataugo River breaks through it, 
thence a direct Course to the Top of the Yellow Afountahiy 
where Bright's Road crosses the same, thence along the ridge 
of said Mountain between the Waters of Doe River and 
the Waters of Rock Creek, to the Place where the Road 
crosses’the Iron Mountain., from thence along the extreme 
Height of said Mountain, to where Nolichucky River runs 
through the same, thence to the Top of the Bald Mountain., 
thence along the extreme Height of the said Mountain to 
the Faulted Rock, on French-Broad River, thence along the 
highest Ridge of the said Mountain, to the Place where it is 
called the Great-Iron or Smoaky Mountain, thence along the 
extreme Height of the said Mountain, to the Place where 
it is called Unicoy or Unaka Mountain, between the Indian 
towns of Coivee and Old Chota, thence along the main Ridge 
of the said Mountain, to the Southern Boundary of this 
State, upon the following express Conditions, and Subject 
thereto : That is to say. 

First, That neither the Lands nor Inhabitants Westward 
of the said Mountain shall be estimated, after the Cession 
made by Virtue of this Act shall be accepted, in the ascer¬ 
taining the Proportion of this State with the United States 
in the common Expence occasioned by the late war. 

Secondly. That the Lands laid off, or directed to be 
laid off, by any Act or Acts of the General Assembly of this 
State, for the Officers and Soldiers thereof, their Heirs and As¬ 
signs respectively, shall be and enure to the Use and Benefit 
of the said Officers, their Heirs and Assigns respectively; 
and if the Bounds of the said Lands already prescribed 
for the Officers and Soldiers of the continental Line of this 
State, shall not contain a sufficient Quantity of Lands fit for 
Cultivation, to make good the several Provisions intended by 
Law, that such Officer or Soldier, or his Assignee, who shall 
fall short of his Allotment or Proportion after all the Lands 
fit for cultivation within the said Bounds are appropriated, 
be permitted to take his Quota, or such Part thereof as may 
be deficient, in any other Part of the said Territory intended 
to be ceded by Virtue of this Act, not already appropriated. 
And where Entries have been made agreeable to Law, and 
Titles under them not perfected by Grant or otherwise, then 


28 


STATE LAND CESSIONS. 


and in that Case, the Governor for the Time being shall, and 
he is hereby required to perfect, from Time to 'Fime, such 
Titles, in such Manner as if this Act had never been passed; 
and that all Entries made by, or Grants made to all and 
every Person and Persons whatsoever, agreeable to Law, and 
within the Limits hereby intended to be ceded to the United 
States, shall have the same Force and Effect as if such Ces¬ 
sion had not been made, and that all and every Right of Oc¬ 
cupancy and Pre-Emptions, and every other Right reserved by 
any Act or Acts to Persons settled on and occupying Lands 
within the Limits of the Lands hereby intended to be ceded as 
aforesaid, shall continue to be in full Force in the same Man¬ 
ner as if the Cession had not been made, and as Conditions 
upon which the said Lands are ceded to the United States. 
And further, it shall be understood, that if any Person or 
Persons shall have, by Virtue of the Act, entitled An Act 
for Ofening the Land Office., for the Redemption of Specie afid 
other Certificates., and discharging the Arrears due to the 
ArmyP passed in the Year one thousand seven hundred and 
eighty three, made his or their Entry in the Office usually 
called fohn Armstrong's Office, and located the same to any 
Spot or Piece of Ground on which any other Person or Per¬ 
sons shall have previously located any Entry or Entries; that 
then and in that Case, the Person or Persons having made 
such Entry or Entries, or their Assignee or Assignees, shall 
have leave and be at full Liberty to remove the Location of 
such Entry or Entries to any Lands on which no Entry has 
been specially located, or any vacant Lands included within 
the Limits of the Lands hereby intended to be ceded. Fro- 
vided, That Nothing herein contained, shall extend or be con¬ 
strued to extend to the making good any Entry or Entries, or 
any Grant or Grants heretofore declared void by any Act or 
Acts of the General Assembly of this State. 

Thirdly. That all the Lands intended to be ceded by 
Virtue of this Act, to the United States of America, and not 
appropriated as before mentioned, shall be considered as a 
common Fund for the Use and Benefit of the United States 
of Afnerica, North-Carolina inclusive, according to their 
respective and usual Proportion in the general Charge and 
Expenditure, and shall be faithfully disposed of for that Pur¬ 
pose, and for no other Use or Purpose whatever. 


NORTH CAROLINA. 


2 ^ 


Fourthly. That the Territory so ceded, shall be laid 
out and formed into a State or States, containing a. 
suitable Extent of Territory, the Inhabitants of which 
shall enjoy all the Privileges, Benefits and Advantages- 
set forth in the Ordinance of the late Congress for the 
Government of the Western Territory of the United States ; 
that is to say^ Whenever the Congress of the United States 
shall cause to be officially transmitted to the Executive 
Authority of this State, an authenticated Copy of the Act to 
be passed by the Congress of the United States, accepting of 
the Cession of Territory made by Virtue of this Act, under the 
express Conditions hereby specified, the said Congress shall 
at the same Time assume the Government of the said ceded 
Territory, which they shall execute in a Manner similar to 
that which they support in the Territory West of the Ohio, 
shall protect the Inhabitants against Enemies, and shall never 
bar or deprive them or any of them, of privileges which the 
People in the Territory West of the Ohio enjoy. Provided 
always, That no Regulations made or to be made by Con¬ 
gress, shall tend to emancipate Slaves. 

Fifthly. 'J'hat the Inhabitants of the said ceded Territory 
shall be liable to pay such Sums of Money as may, from 
taking their Census, be their just Proportion of the Debt of 
the United States, and the Arrears of the Requisitions of 
Congress on this State. 

Sixthly. That all Persons indebted to this State, residing 
in the Territory intended to be ceded by Virtue of this Act, 
shall be held and deemed liable to pay such Debt or Debts, 
in the same Manner, and under the same Penalty or Penal¬ 
ties, as if this Act had never been passed. 

Sroenthly. That if the Congress of the United States da 
not accept the Cession hereby intended to be made, in due 
Form, and give official Notice thereof to the Executive of this 
State, within eighteen Months from the passing of this Act, 
then this Act shall be of no force or Effect whatsoever. 

Eighthly. That the laws in Force and Use in the State of 
North-Carolina. at the Time of passing this Act, shall be and 
continue in full Force within the Territory hereby ceded, 
until the same shall be repealed, or otherwise altered by the 
Legislative Authority of the said Territory. 

Ninthly. That the Lands of Non-resident Proprietors, 


30 


STATE LAND CESSIONS. 


within the said ceded Territory, shall not be taxed higher 
than Lands of Residents. 

Te 7 iihly. That this Act shall not prevent the People now 
residing South of French-Broad., between the Rivers Ten?iessee 
and Fidgeofi, from entering their Pre-Emptions on that Tract, 
should an Office be opened for that Purpose under an Act 
of the present General Assembly. 

II. And be it further enacted by the Autho?'ity afof'csaid., 
That the Sovereignty and Jurisdiction of this State, in and 
over the Territory aforesaid, and all and every the Inhabitants 
thereof, shall be and remain the same in all respects, until 
the Congress of the United States shall accept the Cession 
to be made by Virtue of this Act, as if this Act had never 
passed.”—Iredell, Laws of North Carolina, (1715-1791), 
pp. 663-6.— Afneriean State Papers, Public Lands, I., 108-9. 

Oct 7, 1790. NEW YORK’S RECOGNITION 

OF VERMONT. 

To all to whom these p 7 'ese 7 its shall come: 

Be it known, that Robert Yates, John Lansing, junior, 
Gulian Verplank, Simeon DeWitt, Egbert Benson and 
Melancton Smith, commissioners, appointed by an act of 
the legislature of the State of New York, entitled “An act 
appointing commissioners with powers to declare the consent 
of the legislature of this State, that a certain territory within 
the jurisdiction thereof should be formed into a new State,” 
passed the 6th day of March last:—Do hereby, by virtue 
of the powers to them granted for the purpose, declare the 
consent of the legislature of the State of New York, that the 
community now actually exercising independent jurisdiction, 
as the STATE of Vermont, be admitted into the United States 
of America, and that immediately from such admission all 
claim of jurisdiction from the State of New York, within the 
State of Vermont, shall cease, and thenceforth the perpetual 
boundary line between the State of New York and the State 
of Vermont shall be as follows, viz :—Beginning at the north¬ 
west corner of the State of Massachusetts, thence westward 
along the south boundary of the township of Pownal, to the 
southwest corner thereof, thence northerly, along the western 
boundaries of the townships of Pownal, Bennington, Shafts- 


JVEl'F YORK-VERMONT. 


31 


bury, Arlington, Sandgate, Rupert, Pawlet, Wells, and 
Poultney, as the said townships are now held or possessed, to 
the river, commonly called Poultney river, thence down the 
same, through the middle of the deepest channel thereof, 
to East Bay, thence through the middle of the deepest 
channel of East Bay and the waters thereof, to where the 
same communicates with Lake Champlain, thence through 
the middle of the deepest channel of Lake Champlain, to 
the eastward of the islands called the Four Brothers, and 
the westward of the islands called Grand Isle and Long 
Isle, or the Two Heroes, and to the westward of the Isle La 
Motte, to the forty-fifth degree of north latitude. And the 
said commissioners do hereby declare the will of the legisla¬ 
ture of the State of New York, that if the legislature of the 
State of Vermont shall, on or before the first day of January, 
in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, 
declare, that the State of Vermont shall, on or before the 
first day of June, in the year one thousand seven hun¬ 
dred and ninety-four, pay to the State of New York the sum 
of thirty thousand dollars, that immediately from such 
declaration by the legislature of the State of Vermont, all 
rights and titles to lands within the State of Vermont, under 
grants from the government of the late colony of New York, 
or from the State of New York, except as hereinafter ex¬ 
cepted, shall cease ; or, if the legislature of the State of 
Vermont shall not elect to make such declaration, then that, 
except in cases where the grants from New York were in¬ 
tended as confirmations of grants from New Hampshire, all 
rights and titles under grants from the government of the 
late colony of New York, or from the State of New York, 
to lands within the State of Vermont which may have been 
granted by the governor of the late colony of New Hamp¬ 
shire, shall cease; and the boundaries, according to which 
such grants from the government of the late colony of New 
Hampshire have been held or possessed, shall be deemed to 
be the true boundaries. And the said commissioners do 
hereby further declare the will of the legislature of the State of 
New York, that all rights and titles to lands within the 
State of Vermont under grants from the government of the 
late colony of New York, or from the State of New York, 
and not granted by the government of the late colony of 


32 


STATE LAND CESSIONS, 


New Hampshire, shall be suspended until the expiration of 
three years after the governor of the State of Vermont, for 
the time being, shall have been notified that a commissioner^ 
to be appointed by the State of New York, after the first 
day of January, in the year one thousand seven hundred 
and ninety-two, and to reside and hold a public office at the 
city of Albany, shall have entered upon the execution of his 
office ; and if, within one year after such notification, there 
shall be delivered to such commissioner, either the original 
or a certified abstract, containing the date, the names of the 
grantees, and the boundaries of a grant from New York; 
and if, thereupon, at any time before the expiration of the 
said term of three years above mentioned, there shall be 
paid to such commissioner at the rate of ten cents per acre 
for the whole or any parcel of the lands contained in such 
grant from New York, all right and title under such grant 
shall, in respect to the lands for which payment shall 
be made, cease, and a receipt under the hand and seal of 
such commissioner, specifying the lands for which payment 
shall be made, shall be evidence of the payment. And ii> 
default of delivering the original, or such certified abstract 
of the grant, to the commissioner, within the said term of 
one year, for that purpose above limited, all right and title 
under the grant, in respect of which there shall be such 
default of delivery, shall cease; but where the original or 
certified abstract of the grant shall be duly delivered to the 
commissioners, and if thereupon payment shall not be duly 
made to the commissioners, the right and the title under the 
grant, in respect to the lands for which payment shall not 
be made, shall remain, and suits for the recovery of such 
lands may be prosecuted in the ordinary course of law, pro¬ 
vided the suit be commenced within ten years after the 
State of Vermont shall have been admitted into the Union 
of the United States, otherwise the right and title under the 
grant from New York shall in such case also cease.— Rec¬ 
ords of the Gover 7 ior a 7 id Coimcil of Ver 7 no 7 it^ III., 459-460. 

May 30, 1800. CONNECTICUT CESSION OF THE 

WESTERN RESERVE. 

To all who shall see these presents, I, Jonathan Trumbull^ 
governor of the State of Connecticut, send greeting : 


CONNECTICUT WESTERN RESETTE. 


33 


Whereas the general assembly of the Slate of Connecticut, 
5it their session holden in Hartford on the second Thursday 
of May, one thousand and eight hundred, passed an act 
entitled “ An act renouncing the claims of this State to cer¬ 
tain lands therein mentioned,” in the words following, to 
wit: “Whereas the Congress of the United States, at their 
session begun and holden in the city of Philadelphia, on the 
first Monday of December, in the year one thousand seven 
hundred and ninety-nine, made and passed an act in the 
words following, to wit: [here follows the act of Congress of 
the 28th of April, 1800:] therefore, in consideration of the 
terms, and in compliance with the provisions and conditions 
of the said act. Be it enacted by the governor and council, 
and house of representatives, in general court assembled, 
that the State of Connecticut doth hereby renounce forever 
for the use and benefit of the United Slates, and of the sev¬ 
eral individual States, who may be therein concerned 
respectively, and of all those deriving claims or titles from 
tliem, or any of them, all territorial and jurisdictional claims 
Avhatever, under any grant, charter, or charters whatever, to 
the soil and jurisdiction of any and all lands whatever, lying 
westward, northwestward, and southwestward, of tliose coun¬ 
ties in the State of Connecticut, which are bounded westwardly 
by the eastern line of the Slate of New York, as ascertained 
by agreement between Connecticut and New York, in the 
year one thousand seven hundred and thiriy-three ; excepting 
only from this renunciation, the claim of tlie said State of 
•Connecticut, and of those claiming from or under the said 
State of Connecticut, to the soil of said tract of land, in said 
uct of Coiiiiress described under the name of the Western 
Reserve of Connecticut. And be it furtlier enacted. That 
the governor of this State for the time being, be, and hereby 
is, empowered, in the name and behalf of this State, to 
execute and deliver to the acceptance of the President of 
the United States, a deed of the form and tenor directed by 
the said act of Congress, expressly releasing to the United 
States llie jurisdictional claims of the State of Connecticut, 
to all that territory called the Western Reserve of Connec¬ 
ticut, according to the description thereof in said act of Con¬ 
gress, and in as full and ample manner as therein is required.” 

Therefore, know ye, that I, Jonathan Trumbull, governor 


34 


STATE LAND CESS JO NS. 


of the State of Connecticut, by virtue of the powers vested 
in me, as aforesaid, do, by these presents, in the name and 
for and on behalf of the said State, remise, release, and for¬ 
ever quit claim, to the United States, the jurisdictional 
claim of the State of Connecticut, to all that tract of land 
called in the aforesaid act of Congress, the Western Reserve 
of Connecticut, and as the same therein under that name is 
particularly and fully described. 

April 24, 1802. GEORGIA CESSION. 

Articles of agreement and cession, entered into on the 
twenty-fourth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and 
two, between the commissioners appointed on the part of the 
United States, by virtue of an act, entitled “An act for 
an amicable settlement of limits with the State of Georgia, 
and authorizing the establishment of a Government in the 
Mississippi territory’^ and of the act supplemental to the last 
mentioned act, on the one part, and the commissioners 
appointed on the part of the State of Georgia, by virtue of 
an act, entitled “An act to carry the twenty-third section of 
the first article of the constitution into effect,” and of the 
act to amend the last mentioned act, on the other part. 

Article I. The State of Georgia cedes to the United 
States all the right, title, and claim, which the said State has 
to the jurisdiction and soil of the lands situated within the 
boundaries of the United States, south of the State of 
Tennessee, and west of a line, beginning on the western bank 
of the Chattahoochee river, where the same crosses the boun¬ 
dary line between the United States and Spain ; running 
thence up the said river Chattahoochee, and along the 
western bank thereof, to the great bend thereof, next above 
the place where a certain creek or river, called “ Uchee,” 
(being the first considerable stream on the western side, 
above the Cussetas and Coweta towns,) empties into the said 
Chattahoochee river; thence, in a direct line, to Nickajack, on 
the Tennessee river ; then crossing the said last mentioned 
river; and thence, running up the said Tennessee river, and 
along the western bank thereof, to the southern boundary 
line of the State of Tennessee; upon the following express 
conditions, and subject thereto ; that is to say: 


GEORGIA. 


35 


First, That out of the first net proceeds of the sales of the 
lands thus ceded, which net proceeds shall be estimated by 
deducting, from the gross amount of sales, the expenses 
incurred in surveying, and incident to the sale, the United 
States shall pav, at their treasury, one million two hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars to the Stale of Georgia, as a con¬ 
sideration for the expenses incurred by the said State, in 
relation to the said territory ; and that, for the better securing 
as prompt a payment of the said sum as is practicable, a 
land office, for the disposition of the vacant lands thus ceded, 
to which the Indian title has been, or may hereafter be 
extinguished, shall be opened within a twelvemonth after the 
assent of the Slate of Georgia to this agreement, as here¬ 
after stated, shall have been declared. 

Secondly, That all persons who, on the twenty-seventh 
day of October, one thousand seven hundred and ninety- 
five, were actual settlers within the territory thus ceded, 
shall be confirmed in all the grants legally and fully exe¬ 
cuted prior to that day, by the former British Government of 
West Florida, or by the Government of Spain, and in the 
claims which maybe derived from any actual survey or settle¬ 
ment made under the act of the State of Georgia, entitled 
“ An act for laying out a district of land, situate on the 
river Mississippi, and within the bounds of this State, into 
a county, to be called Bourbon,” passed the seventh day of 
Februarv, one thousand seven hundred and ei"htv-five. 

Thirdly, 'I'hat all the lands ceded by this agreement to the 
United States shall, after satisfying the above mentioned 
payment of one million two hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars to the State of Georgia, and the grants recognized by 
the preceding condition, be considered as a common fund, 
for the use and benefit of the United States, Georgia in¬ 
cluded, and shall be faithfully disposed of for that purpose, 
and for no other use or purpose whatever: provided, how¬ 
ever, that the United States, for the period, and until the 
end of one year after the assent of Georgia to the boundary 
established by this agreement shall have been declared, may, 
in such manner as not to interfere with the abovemeniioned 
payment to the State of Georgia, nor with the grants herein¬ 
before recognized, dispose of or appropriate a proportion of 
the said lands, not exceeding five millions of acres, or the 


36 


ST A TE LAND CESSIONS, 


proceeds of the said five millions of acres, or of any part there¬ 
of, for the purpose of satisfying, quieting, or compensating, 
for any claims other than those hereinbefore recognized, 
which may be made to the said lands, or to any part thereof. 
It being fully understood that, if an act of Congress making 
such disposition or appropriation shall not be passed into a 
law within the abovementioned period of one year, the United 
States shall not be at liberty thereafter to cede any part of 
the said lands on account of claims which may be laid to 
the same, other than those recognized by the preceding 
condition, nor to compensate for the same ; and in case of any 
such cession or compensation, the present cession of 
Georgia to the right of soil over the lands thus ceded or 
compensated for shall be considered as null and void, and 
the lands thus ceded or compensated for shall revert to the 
State of Georgia. 

Fourthly, That the United States shall, at their own 
expense, extinguish, for the use of Georgia, as early as the 
same can be peaceably obtained, on reasonable terms, the 
Indian title to the country of Talassee, to the lands left out 
by the line drawn with the Creeks, in the year one thousand 
seven hundred and ninety-eight, which had been previously 
granted by the State of Georgia, both which tracts had 
formally been yielded by the Indians; and to the lands 
within the forks of Oconee and Ocmulgee rivers; for which 
several objects the President of the United States has 
■directed that a treaty should be immediately held with the 
Creeks; and that the United States shall, in the same man¬ 
ner, also extinguish the Indian title to all the other lands 
within the State of Georgia. 

Fifthly, That the territory thus ceded shall form a State, 
and be admitted as such into the Union, as soon as it shall 
contain sixty thousand free inhabitants, or at an earlier 
period, if Congress shall think it expedient, on the same 
conditions and restrictions, with the same privileges, and in 
the same manner, as is provided in the ordinance of Con¬ 
gress of the thirteenth day of July, one thousand seven 
hundred and eighty-seven, for the Government of the 
Western territory of the United States; which ordinance 
shall, in all its parts extend to the territory contained in the 


GEORG/A. 


37 


present act of cession, that article only excepted which for¬ 
bids slavery. 

Art. II. The United States accept the cession above 
mentioned, and on the conditions therein expressed : and 
they cede to the State of Georgia whatever claim, right, or 
title, they may have to the jurisdiction or soil of any lands 
lying within the United States, and out of the proper bound¬ 
aries of any other State, and situated south of the southern 
boundaries of the States of Tennessee, North Carolina, and 
South Carolina, and east of the boundary line hereinabove 
described, as the eastern boundary of the territory ceded by 
Georgia to the United States. 

Art. III. The present act of cession and agreement shall 
be in full force as soon as the Legislature of Georgia shall 
have given its assent to the boundaries of this cession : 
provided, that the said assent shall be given within six 
months after the date of these presents ; and provided, that 
Congress shall not, during the same period of six months, 
repeal so much of any former law as authorizes this agree¬ 
ment, and renders it binding and conclusive on the United 
States : but if either the assent of Georgia shall not be thus 
given, or if the law of the United States shall be thus re¬ 
pealed, within the said period of six months, then, and in 
either case, these presents shnll become null and void.— 
Americafi Shite Papers, Public Lands, I., 125-126. 


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The attention of Normal instructors, Superintendents and Teachers is 
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The matter comprised in the Leaflets consists of reprints of famous 
documents that were the mainspring of political action, or the resultants of 
such activity. The American History Leaflets are thus of great value 
for giving that particularity and local color to the important events of our 
history which the limited space of most text-books forbids. Pupils using them 
will thus obtain a more intelligent idea of the epoch under consideration. 

The American History Leaflets are issued under the editorial super¬ 
vision of Albert Bushnell Hart and Edward Channing, Professors of American 
History in Harvard University, and each number contains an Introduction 
by the Editors, with a bibliography for further investigation. 

The numbers more 'particularly adapted for common school use are: 

No. 1.—The Letter of Columbus to Santangel announcing 
his Discovery. 

A familiar letter addressed to the Spanish gentleman who befriended 
Columbus. 

No. 8.—The Exact Text of the Constitution of the United 
States. 

An exact reprint reproducing the peculiar capitalization, punctuation 
and spelling then in vogue. It is prefaced by a valuable editorial 
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1860-61. 

Reprints of the Secession ordinances passed by the Southern States at the 
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The titles of other numbers adapted for High School and Normal 
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American History Leaflets. 

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edited by 

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These Leaflets are designed to promote the scientific method of studying 
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Each Leaflet contains a brief historical introduction and bibliography to aid 
further investigation by the student. 

1. —The Letter of -Columbus to Luis de Sant Angel announcing his 

Discovery, with Extracts from his Journal. 

2. —The Ostend Manifesto. 1854. 

3. —Extracts from the Sagas describing the Voyages to Vinland. 

4. —Extracts from Official Declarations of the United States embodying 

the Monroe Doctrine. 1789-1891. 

5. —Documents illustrating the Territorial Development of the United 

States. 1763-1769. 

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England. 1643-1684. 

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9. —Documents describing the Voyage of John Cabot in 1497. 

10. —Governor McDuffie’s Message on the Slavery Question. 1835. 

11. —Jefferson’s Proposed Instructions to the Virginia Delegates, 1774, 

and the Original Draft of the Declaration of Independence, 1776. 

12. —Ordinances of Secession and other Documents. 1860-1861. 

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and Dickinson Drafts. From the Original Manuscripts. 1776- 
1781. 

21. —The Stamp Act. 1765. 

22. —Documents illustrating State Land Claims and Cessions. 1776-1802. 

23. —Extracts from the Dred Scott Decision. 1857. 

24. —Documents relative to the Bank Controversy. 1829-1833. 

All of the above numbers are now ready for delivery. Price, 10 Cents 
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ANNOUNCEMENT. 

The following six numbers will be issued bi-monthly in the months of 
January, March, May, July, September and November, 1896. 

Annual subscription, 60 cents. Price, per number, 10 cents. 

25. —Extracts from the Massachusetts Body of Liberties. 1641. 

26. —Extracts from Lincoln’s State Papers. Dec. 1861-March 1865. 

27. —The Early History of Virginia. Extracts from John Smith’s True 

Relation, etc. 

28. —Proposals to Amend the Articles of Confederation. 1780-1787. 

29. —^The Early History of Plymouth. Extracts from Bradford and Mount. ^ 

30. —Constitutional Doctrines of Webster, Hayne, and Calhoun. 1828- 

1833. 


SOME PRESS AND OTHER COMMENTS. 

“ The ‘ Leaflets ’ which the professors of American History at Harvard have been 
editing during the past three years afford in every respect the best available material 
for the study of our national history in preparatory schools and lower college grades. 
Each leaflet presents a single document, or group of documents most intimately asso¬ 
ciated, chosen with the design of affording to the student the means of reading and 
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Journal of Education. 

" A file of these leaflets is a necessity to every library.”— New York World. 

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the state being published m this form at a trifling cost."—Springfield Republican. 

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Liberal Institute, Fort Plain, N. Y. 

“ It seems to me that your History Leaflets ought to be in the hands of every 
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Corona, N. Y. 

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